Rosanna Arquette, The Executioner's Song, TV, 1982. Producer-director Lawrence Schiller saw more Nicole Bakers than Gary Gilmores for his film on the life and firing-squaddeath of Gilmore - first man to be executed since the US government reinstated capital punishment in 1976.

“Everyone wanted that role,” recalled director Joel Schumacher. His office was opposite John Hughes’ where Demi got tired for waiting for him., “I happened to see her running down the hallway. I told my assistant:"Run after her and find out who she was" -‘Demi Moore and she was on General Hospital.’ So I called her agent and she came in and did a reading. There was no one like Demi Moore at that age in the world. In the movie“she gets to be sexy, seductive, hilariously funny and dramatic. She becomes a coke head and she tries to kill herself by freezing to death by opening the windows in her apartment. She had to go through 35 different things in the movie. At that age? Pretty fucking amazing, right? There was no one like her.” Hughes and Schumacher were rather like Lucas and Spielberg in the 70s, dipping into the same talent pool. Those Brat Packers Hughes kept in high school, Schumacher made, as here, college kids. Or those whoagreed - Tatum did not.

Kathleen Turner, Prizzi’s Honour, 1984. “Do I ice her? Do I marry her?” Conundrum for Charley Partanna, hit-man for the Prizzi Family, when he falls for a fellow contractor: Irene Walker. Given the perversity of Hollywood minds, it is, perhaps, no surprise, that O’Neal and daughter Tatum were in the charts for the gun-toting lovers. Huston (who gave his daughter Angelica the better role of Maerose Prizzi), had five more Irenes and ten other Charleys in mind, so whether he ever actually envisaged the O’Neals together as the deadly duo, or to be couple with womeone else, has never been explained and confirmed. nNor denied

Molly Ringwald, Pretty In Pink, 1985. Although it was obvious that Molly would star - following her two previous John Hughes outings - he kept her in line by seeing O’Neal, Justine Bateman, Jennifer Beals, Jodie Foster, Diane Lane, Lori Loughlin, Saraha Jessica Paker and Brooke Shields. Hughes hated his ending (as much as Molly loathed the dress) and rewrote it for another teen triangle, Some Kind of Wonderful, 1986. Ringwald refused to play it again. “I can’t be 16 forever!” Hughes was furious and never worked with her again.

Kim Basinger, Nine ½ Weeks, 1986. A far less obvious choice than the other early idea of Kathleen Turner. Both refused to be the erotic kind of Elizabeth that was played by Kim and assorted body doubles. 11 - Molly Ringwald, Pretty In Pink, 1985. Although it was obvious that Molly would star - following her two previous John Hughes outings - he kept her in line by seeing O’Neal, Justine Bateman, Jennifer Beals, Jodie Foster, Diane Lane, Lori Loughlin, Saraha Jessica Paker and Brooke Shields. Hughes hated his ending (as much as Molly loathed the dress) and rewrote it for another teen triangle, Some Kind of Wonderful, 1986. Ringwald refused to play it again. “I can’t be 16 forever!” Hughes was furious and never worked with her again.

Elisabeth Shue, Adventures in Babysitting, 1986. Back in the 60s, teenage babysitter Chris Parker was set for Jane Fonda. By the 80s, her logical heir, her niece Bridget, was just not intersted. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was signed, followed by Jodie Foster, then it became a battle between Kathleen Turner (the fourth #1 choice), O’Neal (who simply fled), Justine Bateman, Valerie Bertinelli, Judy Davis, Jodie Foster, Melanie Griffith, Andie MacDowell, Kelly McGillis (spurned by director Christopher Columbus), Michelle Pfeiffer (she preferred The Witches of Eastwick.. until she made it!), Brooke Shields and Sharon Stone.

Kim Basinger, Nine ½ Weeks, 1986. A far less obvious choice than the other early idea of Kathleen Turner. Both refused to be the erotic kind of Elizabeth that played by Kim and assorted body doubles.

Jodie Foster, The Accused, 1988. Awful thing to say. Except it is true. Jodie Foster would never have won her (first) Oscar for this trenchant drama - if actress Kelly McGillis had not been raped in 1982… At first, the role of the rape victim Sarah Tobias was written for Andie MacDowell. She passed. The Paramount suits then saw 34 other young actresses for the (real life) victim. Or, for their own rape bait fantasies - including 16-year-old Alyssa Milano! Foster was refused a test because she was “not sexy enough”! And, anyway, the studio had decided upon McGillis, a high flyer in Paramount’s Witness and Top Gun. And, naturally, she refused point-blank! She knew what it was to be brutally raped and Kelly had no wish to revisit the horror and agony of her own assault six years earlier. The suits were annoyed. They needed her. She was hot at the box-office, their box-office. They had made her a star!! Eventually, McGillis agreed to play Sarah’s defence attorney - on condition that unsexy Jodie played Sarah! The suits caved, tested Foster and the rest is Oscar history… So is the huge list of talent also seen for Sarah. Starting with the Fatal Attraction also-rans: Rosanna Arquette, Ellen Barkin, Kim Basinger, Jennifer Beals, Jennifer Grey, Melanie Griffith, Linda Hamilton, Darryl Hannah, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Diane Keaton, Demi Moore, Kelly Preston, Meg Ryan, Jane Seymour, Sharon Stone, Meryl Streep, Debra Winger. And moving on to the younger O'Neal, Melissa Sue Anderson (trying to break her Little House on the Prairie image), Justine Bateman, Valerie Bertinelli, Phoebe Cates, Jennifer Connelly, Joan Cusack, Judy Davis, Kristin Davis, Bridget Fonda, Annabeth Gish, Mariel Hemingway, Kelly LeBrock, Virginia Madsen, Brigitte Nielsen, Molly Ringwald, Mia Sara, Ally Sheedy, Brooke Shields, Uma Thurman. Oh, and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, said the suits, was “too nice.” Rape victims shouldn’t be nice? Oh, Hollywood!

Julia Roberts,Pretty Woman, 1989.

Sharon Stone, Basic Instinct, 1991.

Geena Davis, Angie, 1993. The official reason was Madonna was already booked for Abel Ferrara’sDangerous Game, 1992.Then, one of heremails was leaked - furious with the head Fox, Joe Roth, for dumping her for a non-Italian inthe titular role.In truth, she fled after hearing Roth didn’t want her because she couldn’t carry a movie. (Notthat this one did any better without her). Her director, Jonathan Kaplan, also quit and Martha Coolidge took over with her 1991 Rambling Rose star - after some thoughts about a dozen others, fromHalle Berry to Meryl Streep.Oh, very Italian!

Janet Gunn, The Quest, 1996. The idea of being Jean-Claude Van Damme’s leading lady fizzled around the same time as their affair.

Heather Graham, Boogie Nights, 1997. Gwyneth Paltrow was the surprise first choice for the erotic scamp, Rollergirl - who never took her skates off. O’Neal and Drew Barrymore were next in the frame and North Carolina newcomer Laurel Holloman tested. But it was Graham who shot the nude scne on her very first day on director Paul Thomas Anderson’s exploration of the 70s porno biz as a family unit - Burt Reynolds’ film-maker and Julianne Moore’s porno star being “the parents.”